Photo by Bruce Ely / The OregonianThe addition of Jarrett Jack to the starting lineup seemed to free up Roy offensively.

Well, the Blazers finished their home stand with a win. And it didn't even require overtime. Like it or not, Nate McMillan switched up his starting rotation (inserting Jarrett Jack for Martell Webster) and it seemed to help prevent another slow start for the Blazers. Portland won the rebounding battle, amassed 23 assists and nearly cut the turnovers in half from from the previous game (10). It wasn't always pretty last night, and could've been embarrassing had they lost to the depleted Bulls, but it's nice to hit another tough road stretch with a W under the belt.

Roy broke out his full offensive arsenal -- using fadeaways, post-up turnarounds, jumpers off screens and off-balance leaners -- to continually keep the Blazers ahead. Of his 28 points, 18 of them were scored when the Blazers were leading by five points or fewer.

"I thought he saved us on a number of occasions," coach Nate McMillan said. "A number of those shots he made tonight, if they don't go in maybe we tighten up. He took some big shots, and made some big shots. And he made shot after shot. A couple of the shots he made bailed us out."

The Blazers were led by Brandon Roy, who had a very efficient 28 points, on 12 for 19 shooting. He also had 6 assists and 4 rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge, who was as active as we've seen him in a couple of weeks, had 18 points and 6 rebounds. And, Jarrett Jack rebounded from his crucial turnover late in overtime of the Denver game, to put up 17 points, 6 assists, and only 2 turnovers. Travis Outlaw led Portland's second unit with 14.

Nate McMillan chose to change the starting lineup before this game, and put Jack at the shooting-guard spot, and moved Brandon Roy to the small-forward position. The move put Martell Webster out of the starting unit for the first time this season. Nate said he wanted to give the starting five a chance to run a little more, and with James Jones out, gave the reserve unit a shooter, in Webster. I would suggest we'll see the same starting five in the Detroit game on Friday night.

Teammates felt the adjustment helped Roy as well. Rather than rely on Roy to create most of their offense early in games, the move added a second dribble penetrator to the lineup in Jack, who responded with a 17-point, six-assist night. Jack said he felt Roy did not press as much to create offense early in the game as a result of the adjustment.

"Normally early he's the one guy out there creating offense for us, breaking guys down, able to create his own shot," Jack said. "And if he's maybe struggling for a little bit, then we're struggling. ... With me in the lineup, then if he doesn't have it he kicks it to me. It's tough for teams to guard the second and third option."

This wasn't just a game the Blazers wanted to win, it was one they had to win if we're going to believe they have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Maybe, too, it's one they had to win to keep from slipping off the deep end when it comes to catching a break.

The fear all along is that the Blazers, who are young, talented and playing the right way, would fall into a pattern of playing hard, playing close, but not getting a tangible reward (Read: Victory) at the end.

After Chicago's Andres Nocioni buried a 3-pointer with .8 of a second left to close Portland's lead to 98-97, the All-Star Game-bound Roy was fouled on the in-bounds pass. The Bulls had no timeouts left, so Roy swished the first and -- under instructions from McMillan -- attempted to miss the second so the clock would run out. But the second shot kissed the front rim and trickled in.

Jay Marriotti says because the Bulls did not make a play at Shaq, the team is cheap and not trying to improve. Or maybe John Paxson didn't want to ship out his young talent for an aging center that chooses when, and how hard, he wants to play.